Systems and methods for communicating notifications and textual data associated with applications

ABSTRACT

Embodiments are provided for communicating notifications and other textual data associated with applications installed on an electronic device. According to certain aspects, a user can interface with an input device to send ( 218 ) a wake up trigger to the electronic device. The electronic device retrieves ( 222 ) application notifications and converts ( 288 ) the application notifications to audio data. The electronic device also sends ( 230 ) the audio data to an audio output device for annunciation ( 232 ). The user may also use the input device to send ( 242 ) a request to the electronic device to activate the display screen. The electronic device identifies ( 248 ) an application corresponding to an annunciated notification, and activates ( 254 ) the display screen and initiates the application.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/190,891, filed on Jun. 23, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/096,685, filed on Dec. 4, 2013, whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/896,368, filedon Oct. 28, 2013, all of which are incorporated by reference.

FIELD

This application generally relates to improving the user experienceduring interaction with electronic devices. In particular, theapplication relates to platforms and techniques for communicatingnotifications and other textual data associated with applicationsinstalled on an electronic device.

BACKGROUND

As electronic devices such as smart phones continue to evolve and offermore diverse functionalities, users continue to increase the amount oftime they interact with these electronic devices. For example, currentsmart phones and tablet computing devices offer movie viewing and musicplayback, email support, social networking applications, and variousproductivity features that collectively make the electronic devices asingular hub for a variety of entertainment and productivity uses. Someapplications of existing electronic devices support notifications thatgenerally provide a condensed summary of various features, updates, orcommunications associated with the applications. For example, a socialnetworking application may support notifications associated with new“friend requests,” a new message or interaction, an available update,and others.

However, current electronic devices offer few options for communicatingor otherwise indicating application notifications. For example, someelectronic devices display notifications on a “home screen” or similarinterface. Further, some electronic devices merely indicate availablenotifications via an icon or graphic. Accordingly, a user of theelectronic device must physically interact with the electronic device toaccess or view the notifications, and then must then perform variousadditional steps to initiate a corresponding application, if desired.Additionally, displaying the notifications causes the electronic devicesto quickly lose battery life, because the display screen is often thecomponent that requires the most battery power. Moreover, currentnotification communication techniques do not account for the increasingprevalence of peripheral devices and components configured to interfacewith electronic devices, such as smart watches, wireless externalspeakers, and the like.

Accordingly, there is an opportunity to implement embodiments foreffectively and efficiently communicating notifications and othertextual data associated with applications installed on an electronicdevice while reducing the required user interaction for both consumingthe notifications and initiating any corresponding applications.Additionally, there is an opportunity to implement embodiments forleveraging peripheral devices and components to facilitate thecommunication of notifications and textual data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separateviews, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated inand form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrateembodiments of concepts that include the claimed embodiments, andexplain various principles and advantages of those embodiments.

FIG. 1 depicts an example representation of electronic devices capableof facilitating the communication of notifications and other textualdata, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 (FIGS. 2A and 2B) depicts an example signal diagram associatedwith communicating notifications and requesting application initiation,in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 depicts an example representation of devices configured tocommunicate notifications and request application initiation, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 (FIGS. 4A and 4B) depicts an example signal diagram associatedwith initiating the communication of notifications and other textualdata associated with applications, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 depicts an example representation of devices configured initiatethe communication of notifications and other textual data associatedwith applications, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 (FIGS. 6A and 6B) depicts a flow diagram of initiatingcommunication of notifications and other textual data associated withapplications, as well as requesting application initiation, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an electronic device in accordance withsome embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments as detailed herein enable effective and efficientcommunication of application notifications and other textual data. Anelectronic device supports a set of applications that individually havenotification capabilities. For example, a weather application maysupport notifications for severe weather, and a map application maysupport notifications for turn-by-turn directions, estimated time ofarrival, and others. The electronic device is configured to generatespeech synthesized audio data that corresponds to the notifications andtextual data. The embodiments may also include an audio output devicesuch as an external speaker as well as an input device such as aperipheral hardware component that includes input selectors. Accordingto aspects, the audio output device and the input device may be includedas part of the electronic device or may be separate from and connectableto the electronic device via various communication channels.

The input device enables a user to initiate the generation andannunciation or playback of the audio data. In particular, theelectronic device may receive a request from the input device togenerate the audio data corresponding to one or more notifications andtextual data and send the generated audio data to the audio outputdevice for audible annunciation. The user may further use the inputdevice to control the playback of the generated audio data, such as ifthe user wishes to skip one or more notifications. In some cases, theuser may wish for the electronic device to initiate a particularapplication based on one of the annunciated notifications. For example,if the user hears the subject line of an unread email, the user cancause the input device to send a request to the electronic device tocease outputting the notifications, activate the display screen, andinitiate an email application that navigates to the unread email.

The embodiments as discussed herein offer benefits to users byannunciating application notifications for the user without the userhaving to physically view the electronic device. Accordingly, theembodiments enable the user to perform other tasks while the audiooutput device annunciates the notifications. Further, by leveraging theaudio output device to annunciate the notifications, the electronicdevice need not turn on its display screen and will therefore conservebattery life. Moreover, the embodiments enable users to leverageperipheral devices such as smart watches to consume the notifications,such as in cases in which the electronic device is not easilyaccessible. It should be appreciated that additional benefits andimprovements may be realized by the embodiments.

Although some portions of this Detailed Description describe generatingaudio data corresponding to one of application notifications or textualdata, it should be appreciated that the various embodiments as describedherein support generating audio data corresponding to either or both ofthe application notifications and the textual data.

FIG. 1 is an example representation 100 of an electronic device andother components configured to facilitate the notification managementtechniques as discussed herein. As illustrated in FIG. 1, therepresentation 100 includes an electronic device 105 that may be anytype of standalone or portable electronic device, for example, a desktopor notebook computer, a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA), a smart phone, a tablet computer, a multimedia player, an MP3player, a digital broadcast receiver, a remote controller, or any otherelectronic apparatus. The electronic device 105 is configured to executeone or more applications installed thereon and facilitate userinteraction with the applications via a user interface including adisplay screen 190. The electronic device 105 includes a notificationmodule 113 that is configured to interface with the installedapplication(s) and identify any notifications or textual data associatedwith the application(s). For example, a notification for an emailapplication can indicate an unread email of the number of unreadmessages. For further example, textual data associated with an emailapplication can include the body of the email itself and its sender. Theelectronic device 105 further includes an audio generation module 112that is configured to generate speech synthesized audio data (or“text-to-speech” audio data) that corresponds to the identifiednotification(s) or textual data. Continuing with the example, the speechsynthesized audio data can include audio that recites that there is anunread email and/or that recites the sender and then the body of theunread email.

The electronic device 105 can be configured to connect to one or moreaudio output devices 101, 102 via a network 109. According toembodiments, the electronic device 105 is configured to transmit or sendthe speech synthesized audio data to one or more of the audio outputdevices 101, 102 for audible annunciation via an audio output component121, 122 (e.g., a speaker) of the respective audio output devices 101,102. Each audio output device 101, 102 may be a Bluetooth® headset, awatch, a desktop or notebook computer, a mobile phone, a PDA, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a multimedia player, an MP3 player, a digitalbroadcast receiver, a remote controller, or any other electronicapparatus that includes an audio output component. Although FIG. 1illustrates two (2) audio output devices 101, 102, it should beappreciated that other amounts and types of audio output devices areenvisioned.

The electronic device 105 can also be configured to connect to one ormore input devices 103, 106, 107, 108 via a network 111. Each of theinput devices 106, 107, 108 is configured to send commands to theelectronic device 105 to initiate the notification identification andaudio data generation, as well as send commands to control some of thedisplay-based functions of the electronic device 105. For example, acommand can instruct the electronic device 105 to turn off or otherwiseobscure its display screen. Further, each of the input devices 106, 107,108, via the electronic device 105, is configured to control theplayback/annunciation (e.g., rewind, fast-forward, skip, etc.) of thespeech synthesized audio data on the corresponding audio output device101, 102. Each of the input devices 103, 106, 107, 108 can include aninput selector 163, 166, 167, 168 or other type of actuator component,button, rocker, touch screen, touch pad, camera, infrared sensor, orother component or input configured for selection by a user that causesthe corresponding input device 106, 107, 108 to send the commands to theelectronic device 105. Each of the input devices 106, 107, 108 may be aBluetooth® headset, a watch, a desktop or notebook computer, a mobilephone, a PDA, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a multimedia player, anMP3 player, a digital broadcast receiver, a remote controller, or anyother electronic apparatus. Although FIG. 1 illustrates three (3) inputdevices 106, 107, 108, it should be appreciated that other amounts andtypes of input devices are envisioned.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 1, it should be appreciated that anaudio output device and an input device may be combined into a singledevice. For example, a smart watch 102, 106 may include both an externalspeaker configured to annunciate audio, as well as an input selectorconfigured for actuation by a user to initiate sending a command to theelectronic device 105. Further, although not illustrated in FIG. 1, itshould be appreciated that an audio output device and an input devicemay be combined into the electronic device 105. For example, a smartphone may have a set of applications installed therein, as well as anexternal speaker 155 for annunciating audio and an input selector 165(e.g., a power button or a “volume up” button) for actuation by a userto initiate audio generation and/or control audio playback.

The networks 109, 111 as described herein can each be a wired orwireless local area network (LAN/WLAN) or personal area network(PAN/WPAN). It should be appreciated that each of the networks 109, 111may facilitate any type of data communication via various standards ortechnologies (e.g., infrared, ZigBee, near field communication (NFC),Z-Wave, Wireless USB, IEEE 802 including Ethernet, WiMAX, WiFi,Bluetooth®, and others).

FIG. 2 (FIGS. 2A and 2B) depicts an example signaling diagram 200associated with managing application notifications and textual datausing an electronic device 205 and audio generation module 212 andnotification module 213 thereof (such as the electronic device 105 andaudio generation module 112 and notification module 113 discussed withrespect to FIG. 1), an audio output device 210 (such as the audio outputdevice 101 as discussed with respect to FIG. 1), and an input device 215(such as the input device 108 as discussed with respect to FIG. 1). Insome embodiments, the input device 215 and the audio output device 210may be combined into a single device. In other embodiments, the inputdevice 215 and the audio output device 210 may be combined into theelectronic device 205.

The functionalities can begin with the input device 215 sending (218) a“wake up” trigger to the audio generation module 212. The wake uptrigger can be initiated by a user of the input device 215 via aselection of an input selector (e.g., a key, hardware button, softwarebutton, or other selectors). In some cases, the wake up trigger may bean audio command. Although not illustrated in FIG. 2, the audiogeneration module 212 may process the wake up trigger differently basedon the type of trigger, which will be discussed later with respect toFIG. 6.

Responsive to receiving the wake up trigger, the audio generation module212 can request (220) the notification module 213 for one or morenotifications (or other textual data) associated with one or moreapplications executing on or otherwise installed on the electronicdevice 205. In embodiments, the audio generation module 212 maycommunicate with the notification module 213 using an applicationprogramming interface (API) of an operating system of the electronicdevice 205. The notification module 213 can retrieve (222) anynotifications associated with the application(s). In some cases, thenotification module 213 can be a component of an operating system of theelectronic device 205 whereby the notification module 213 communicateswith the applications at the operating system level and requests thenotifications. In some embodiments, the audio generation module 212 mayretrieve the notifications via directly communicating with theapplications.

The notification module 213 can send or provide (224) the notificationsto the audio generation module 212. The audio generation module 212 canopen (226) a connection with (or can “discover”) the audio output device210, for example via a PAN, WPAN, LAN, WLAN, or other type ofconnection. In some cases, the audio generation module 212 can open theconnection in response to receiving the wake up trigger at 218. Theaudio generation module 212 can also convert (228) one or more of thenotifications received from the notification module 213 to audio data.In particular, the audio generation module 212 may generate speechsynthesized audio data (text-to-speech data) based on the notificationsor portions thereof. The audio generation module 212 can send (230) theaudio notification data to the audio output device 210 and the audiooutput device 210 can audibly annunciate (232) the audio notificationdata, for example via an external speaker or other audio outputcomponent. According to embodiments, a display screen of the electronicdevice 205 may be powered off or otherwise obscured after sending theaudio notification data.

According to embodiments, the input device 215 may also facilitate theplayback/annunciation of the audio notification data on the audio outputdevice 210. For example, the input device 215 can send (234) a “next”command to the audio generation module 212, such as if a user of theinput device 215 selects a designated input selector (e.g., a “volumeup” button). The next command can instruct the audio generation module212 to send a subsequent audio notification to the audio output device210. In response to receiving the next command, the audio generationmodule 212 can send (236) a “stop” command to the audio output device210 that instructs the audio output device 210 to stop annunciatingaudio data corresponding to the current notification. The audio outputdevice 210 can send (238) a “finished” response to the audio generationmodule 212 that indicates that the audio output device 210 stoppedannunciating the current notification. Although not illustrated in FIG.2, it should be appreciated that the input device 215, audio generationmodule 212, and audio output device 210 may support other playbackcommands such as, for example, pause, rewind, fast-forward, replay,stop, and others.

Although not depicted in FIG. 2, it should be appreciated that thedevices (210, 205, 215) may dynamically change roles. For example, aBluetooth® headset (i.e., audio output device 210) may annunciatecertain audio notification data sent from a smart phone (i.e.,electronic device 205), and then a user may select (e.g., via an inputselector) to have the smart phone annunciate additional audionotification data, thus enabling the smart phone to have the audiooutput device role. Similarly, if the smart phone speaker isannunciating audio notification data, the user may use the Bluetooth®headset to request that the Bluetooth® headset be the audio outputdevice. Further, in embodiments, one or more additional input devicesmay connect to the electronic device 205 and send various triggers andplayback commands to the electronic device 205. For example, a user mayuse both a smart watch and an external headset as input devices foraudio notification playback. The electronic device 205 can queue thereceived commands according to time of receipt and then process thecommands sequentially.

The audio generation module 212 can also determine (240) if there areadditional notifications that need to be annunciated as audio data. Ifthere are additional notifications (“YES”), processing can return to 228at which the audio generation module 212 can convert an additionalnotification to audio data and then facilitate the audio notificationannunciating via the audio output device 210. If there are notadditional notifications (“NO”), processing can proceed to 242 at whichthe audio generation module 212 may receive (242) a “display on” requestfrom the input device 215. According to embodiments, a user of the inputdevice 215 may trigger the display on request if the user wishes to havethe electronic device 205 initiate an application. In particular, theapplication may correspond to the currently-annunciating or mostrecently-annunciated audio notification. For example, if the audiooutput device 210 annunciates a notification that indicates a new textmessage, the user can cause the electronic device 205 to initiate acorresponding text messaging application via the display on request fromthe input device 215. In some embodiments, the audio generation modulemay receive 242 the “display on” request before determining if there areadditional notifications at 240.

In an optional embodiment, the audio generation module 212 can send(244) a stop output request to the audio output device 210, and theaudio output device 210 can cease from annunciating any audionotification data. The audio output device 210 can optionally send (246)a finished response to the audio generation module 212 indicating thatthe audio output device 210 has stopped annunciating audio notificationdata. Further, the audio output device 210 can optionally enter (250)into a sleep mode.

Responsive to receiving the display on request, the audio generationmodule 212 can identify (248) an application that corresponds to thecurrently-annunciating or most recently-annunciated audio notification.For example, if the audio generation module 212 sends audio data to theaudio output device 210 corresponding to a new friend requestnotification for a social networking application and then receives adisplay on request from the input device 215, the audio generationmodule 212 may identify the social networking application as theapplication to initiate. Further, the audio generation module 212 cansend (252) a command to the notification module 213 to initiate theapplication. Responsive to receiving the command, the notificationmodule 213 can activate (254) a display screen of the electronic device205 and initiate the application.

FIG. 3 depicts an example representation 300 of functionalities andcommunications associated with managing application notification andtextual data annunciation using an electronic device 305, an audiooutput device 310, and an input device 315.

The first illustration (1) of FIG. 3 depicts the electronic device 305with a display screen 319 powered off. The input device 315 sends thewake up trigger 320 to the electronic device 305. The secondillustration (2) of FIG. 3 depicts the electronic device 305 respondingto the wake up trigger 320. In particular, the electronic device 305connects 380 to the audio output device 310 and sends audio data 323 tothe audio output device 310. In particular, the audio data is speechsynthesized audio data corresponding to notifications and/or other typesof textual data associated with one or more applications installed onthe electronic device 205. Further, the audio output device 310 audiblyannunciates the audio data 323 via a component such as a speaker 321.The display screen 319 of the electronic device 305 remains powered offor otherwise obscured during the audio data annunciation.

The third illustration (3) of FIG. 3 depicts the input device 315sending a “display on” request 381 to the electronic device 305.Responsive to receiving the request 381, the electronic device 305 sendsa stop output request 385 to the audio output device 310, after whichthe audio output device 310 can cease annunciating the audio data andoptionally send a finished response to the electronic device 305. Theelectronic device 305 can identify the application corresponding to thecurrently-annunciating or most recently-annunciated notification (ortextual data). For example, as shown in the fourth illustration (4) ofFIG. 3, the most recently-annunciated notification may correspond to theGoogle+™ application. Accordingly, the electronic device 305 can poweron or activate the display screen 319 and initiate the Google+™application for interaction with the user.

FIG. 4 (FIGS. 4A and 4B) depicts an example signaling diagram 400associated with managing application notifications and textual datausing an electronic device 405 and audio generation module 412 andnotification module 413 thereof (such as the electronic device 105 andaudio generation module 112 and notification module 113 as discussedwith respect to FIG. 1), an audio output device 410 (such as the audiooutput device 102 as discussed with respect to FIG. 1), and an inputdevice 415 (such as the input device 106 as discussed with respect toFIG. 1). In some embodiments, the input device 415 and the audio outputdevice 410 may be combined into a single device. In other embodiments,the input device 415 and the audio output device 410 may be combinedinto the electronic device 405.

The functionalities can begin with the display screen of the electronicdevice 405 activated (425). The input device 415 sends (427) a“notification output” trigger to the audio generation module 412. Thenotification output trigger can be initiated by a user of the inputdevice 415 via a selection of an input selector (e.g., a key, hardwarebutton, software button, or other selectors). In some cases, thenotification output trigger may be an audio command. Although notillustrated in FIG. 4, the audio generation module 412 may process thenotification output trigger differently based on the type of trigger,which will be discussed later with respect to FIG. 6.

The audio generation module 412 can request (429) the notificationmodule 413 for an identification of the “foreground” application. Forpurposes of explanation, the foreground application is the applicationthat is currently displayed on the display screen of the electronicdevice 405. The foreground application is in contrast to one or more“background” applications that may be executing on the electronic device405 but are not displayed on the display screen. The notification module413 can send or provide (431) the identification of the foregroundapplication and a status thereof. For example, the foregroundapplication may be the Gmail® application and the status may indicatetwo (2) unread emails. Although not illustrated in FIG. 4, the audiogeneration module 412 may also retrieve, from the notification module413, notifications associated with one or more background applicationsif the display screen is not displaying a foreground application. Thisfunctionality is discussed later with respect to FIG. 6.

The audio generation module 412 determines (433) if the foregroundapplication has audio user interface support. In particular, theforeground application has audio user interface support if the audiogeneration module 412 is able to generate speech synthesized audio datacorresponding to notifications or other textual data associated with theforeground application. If the foreground application does not haveaudio user interface support (“NO”), the audio generation module 412 maysend (435) a display off command to the notification module 413. Uponreceipt of the display off command, the notification module 413 canobscure (437) the display screen. It should be appreciated thatobscuring the display screen may include turning off or dimming part orall of the display screen, entering a standby mode, or performing otheractions to modify the display screen. The audio generation module 412can also send (439) a display off announcement to the audio outputdevice 410, and the audio output device 410 can annunciate (445) thedisplay off announcement, for example to inform the user that there isno application audio data to annunciate. Processing may then proceed(441) to 463 (or to other processing) at which the audio generationmodule 412 can enter a sleep mode.

If the application does have audio user interface support (“YES”), theaudio generation module 412 may send (443) a display off command to thenotification module 413. Upon receipt of the display off command, thenotification module 413 can obscure (449) the display screen accordingto various techniques as discussed above. The audio generation module412 can also open (447) a connection with (or can “discover”) the audiooutput device 410, for example via a PAN, WPAN, LAN, WLAN, or other typeof connection. The audio generation module 412 can also retrieve (453) atext stream for the application and convert the text stream to an audiodata stream (e.g., as speech synthesized audio data). In embodiments,the text stream may be any sort of textual data associated with theapplication (e.g., the body of an email), any notifications associatedwith the application (e.g., a sports score), or any combination thereof.Further, in some embodiments, at least some of the retrieved text streammay be displayed on the display screen when the audio generation module412 receives the notification output trigger. For example, if thedisplay screen displays a series of sports scores when the input devicesends the notification output trigger, the retrieved text stream mayinclude the series of displayed sports scores. Although not illustratedin FIG. 4, the audio generation module 412 may interface with thenotification module 413 or directly with the application itself toretrieve the text stream for the application.

The audio generation module 412 can send (455) the audio data stream tothe audio output device 410 and, upon receipt, the audio output device410 can annunciate (457) the audio data stream via an external componentsuch as a speaker or other audio output component. When the audio outputdevice 410 completes annunciating the audio data stream, the audiooutput device 410 can send (459) a “finished” response to the audiogeneration module 412. Next, the audio generation module 412 candetermine (461) if there is an additional text stream. For example, theadditional text stream may correspond to additional textual data of theapplication, an additional notification, or a combination thereof. Ifthere is an additional text stream (“YES”), processing can return to 453(or to other processing) at which the audio generation module 412 mayprocess the additional text stream and send an additional audio datastream to the audio output device 410 for annunciation. If there is notan additional text stream (“NO”), processing may proceed to 463 (or toother processing) at which the audio generation module 412 can enter asleep mode.

FIG. 5 depicts an example representation 500 of functionalities andcommunications associated with managing application notifications andtextual data using an electronic device 505, an audio output device 510,and an input device 515.

The first illustration (1) of FIG. 5 depicts the electronic device 505with a display screen 519 powered on and displaying the Google+™application. The input device 515 sends the notification output trigger527 to the electronic device 505 to request audio data for anynotifications or textual data associated with the foreground application(i.e., Google+™) The second illustration (2) of FIG. 5 depicts theelectronic device 505 responding to the notification output trigger. Inparticular, the electronic device 505 obscures the display screen 519and connects 547 to the audio output device 510. Further, the electronicdevice 505 retrieves a text stream (or any type of textual data ornotification) associated with the Google+™ application and converts thetext stream to audio data 523. In some embodiments, at least some of thetext stream may correspond to textual data that is displayed on thedisplay screen 519 in (1).

The third illustration (3) of FIG. 5 depicts the electronic device 505sending the audio data 523 (e.g., speech synthesized audio datacorresponding to notifications or other types of textual data) to theaudio output device 510. The fourth illustration (4) of FIG. 5 depictsthe audio output device 510 audibly annunciating 557 the audio data 523via a component such as a speaker 521. The display screen 519 of theelectronic device 505 remains powered off during the audio dataannunciating.

FIG. 6 (FIGS. 6A and 6B) is a flowchart of a method 600 for anelectronic device (such as the electronic device 105 as discussed withrespect to FIG. 1) to facilitate the annunciation of notifications ortextual data associated with one or more applications. The order of thesteps of the depicted flowchart of FIG. 6 can differ from the versionshown, and certain steps can be eliminated, and/or certain other onescan be added, depending upon the implementation. The method 600 beginswith the electronic device receiving or detecting 656 a trigger. Thetrigger may be a user activation of an input selector of the electronicdevice itself or of a separate input device.

The electronic device determines 658 whether its display screen is OFFor ON. If the display screen is OFF (“NO”), processing can proceed to667. If the display screen is ON (“YES”), the electronic devicedetermines 660 whether there is a foreground application. In particular,a foreground application corresponds to an application installed on theelectronic device that is currently executing and displaying on thedisplay screen. If there is a foreground application (“YES”), processingcan proceed to 665. If there is not a foreground application (“NO”), theelectronic device determines 662 the type of the trigger received at656. In embodiments, the trigger may initiate from a selection of ahardware button (e.g., a power button, a volume up or down button, ahome button, etc.), a soft button, or any other type of selector.Generally, if the trigger initiates from a power button and there is noforeground application, the user may desire to simply power off orotherwise obscure the display screen without any audio annunciation.Otherwise, if the trigger initiates from a selection other than thepower button, the user may desire to listen to audio notifications ortextual data associated with one or more applications.

Accordingly, if the type of trigger is a power button (“POWER BUTTON”),the electronic device obscures the display screen (664), and processingmay end or proceed to any other processing. If the type of trigger isnot a power button (“NON-POWER BUTTON”), the electronic device obscures666 the display screen and retrieves 667 one or more notificationsassociated with the foreground application (if there is a foregroundapplication) and/or any non-foreground applications (i.e., backgroundapplications) executing on the electronic device. To retrieve the one ormore notifications, the electronic device may directly communicate withthe application(s) or indirectly communicate with the application(s) viaan operating system-level module, such as a notification module. Theelectronic device may then communicate with an audio output device andsend audio data corresponding to the notification(s) to the audio outputdevice. In some cases, the electronic device itself may include theaudio output device (e.g., a speaker component). The audio output deviceannunciates 668, as audio data, a current notification.

The electronic device then determines 669 if a “display on” request tolaunch an application has been received. The display on request maycorrespond to a user activation of an input selector of the electronicdevice itself or of a separate input device. If the display on requesthas been received (“YES”), the electronic device turns on 670 orotherwise activates the display screen. Further, the electronic deviceidentifies the application that corresponds to thecurrently-annunciating or most recently-annunciated notification andlaunches 671 that application. Processing can then end or proceed to anyother functionality. If the display on request has not been received(“NO”), the electronic device determines 672 if there are morenotifications to annunciate. If there are more notifications (“YES”),processing can return to 668 at which the electronic device converts anadditional notification to audio data and facilitates the audioannunciation of the additional notification. If there are not morenotifications (“NO”), processing can end or proceed to any otherfunctionality.

Referring back to 660, if there is a foreground application (“YES”), theelectronic device determines 665 whether the foreground application hasaudio user interface support, for example via the applicationprogramming interface (API) of the operating system of the electronicdevice. If the foreground application does not have audio user interfacesupport (“NO”), processing can proceed to 662 at which the electronicdevice examines the type of trigger. In contrast, if the foregroundapplication does have audio support (“YES”), the electronic deviceobscures 673 the display screen. Further, the electronic deviceidentifies any notifications or textual data associated with theforeground application and generates audio data based on thenotification(s) or textual data. The electronic device may thencommunicate with an audio output device and send audio datacorresponding to the notification(s) or textual data to the audio outputdevice. In some cases, the electronic device itself may include theaudio output device (e.g., a speaker component). The audio output deviceannunciates 674, as audio data, a current application element (i.e.,notification or textual data).

The electronic device then determines 675 if a “display on” request toreturn to the foreground application display has been received. Thedisplay on request may correspond to a user activation of an inputselector of the electronic device itself or of a separate input device.If the display on request has been received (“YES”), the electronicdevice turns on 680 or otherwise activates the display screen. Further,the electronic device expands 681 the corresponding application elementfor the foreground application. For example, if the foregroundapplication is an email application and the audio output device recitesa subject of an email, the electronic device can cause the emailapplication to display that email for review by the user. Processing canthen end or proceed to any other functionality. If the display onrequest has not been received (“NO”), the electronic device determines682 if there are more foreground application elements to annunciate. Ifthere are more application elements (“YES”), processing can return to674 at which the electronic device converts an additional applicationelement to audio data and facilitates the audio annunciation of theadditional application element. If there are not more applicationelements (“NO”), processing can end or proceed to any otherfunctionality.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example electronic device 705 (such as theelectronic device 105 as discussed with respect to FIG. 1, or otherdevices) in which the functionalities as discussed herein may beimplemented. The electronic device 705 can include a processor 795 orother similar type of controller module or microcontroller, as well as amemory 796. The memory 796 can store an operating system 797 capable offacilitating the functionalities as discussed herein. The operatingsystem 797 can be configured with (or be configured to interface with) anotification module 713 to facilitate the retrieval of notifications orother textual data from a set of applications 784. The processor 795 caninterface with the memory 796 to execute the operating system 797 andthe notification module 713 thereof, as well as execute the set ofapplications 784. The set of applications 784 (which the memory 796 canalso store) can include an audio generation module 712 configured tofacilitate the speech synthesized audio data generation techniques asdiscussed herein. The set of applications 784 may also include one ormore other installed applications such as, for example, socialnetworking applications, utilities, productivity applications, games,travel applications, communication applications, music and entertainmentapplications, shopping applications, finance applications, sportsapplications, photography applications, mapping applications, weatherapplications, applications for connecting to an online marketplace,and/or other applications. The audio generation module 712 is configuredto communicate with both the notification module 713 and any of the setof applications 784. The memory 796 can include one or more forms ofvolatile and/or non-volatile, fixed and/or removable memory, such asread-only memory (ROM), electronic programmable read-only memory(EPROM), random access memory (RAM), erasable electronic programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), and/or other hard drives, flash memory,MicroSD cards, and others.

The electronic device 705 can further include a communication module 792configured to interface with one or more external ports 785 tocommunicate data via one or more networks 783. For example, thecommunication module 792 can leverage the external ports 785 toestablish a personal area network and secure channels associatedtherewith for connecting the electronic device 705 to other componentssuch as an audio output device and an input device. According to someembodiments, the communication module 792 can include one or moretransceivers functioning in accordance with IEEE standards, 3GPPstandards, or other standards, and configured to receive and transmitdata via the one or more external ports 785. More particularly, thecommunication module 792 can include one or more WLAN and/or WPANtransceivers configured to connect the electronic device to local areanetworks and/or personal area networks. For example, the electronicdevice 705 can connect to an audio output device via a Bluetooth®network.

The electronic device 705 can further include one or more sensors 793such as, for example, imaging sensors, accelerometers, touch sensors,and other sensors, as well as NFC components 794 such as an NFC chipand/or an NFC tag for pairing the electronic device 705 with one or moreother electronic devices. The electronic device 705 may include a userinterface 786 to present information to the user and/or receive inputsfrom the user. As shown in FIG. 7, the user interface 786 includes adisplay screen 719 and I/O components 787 (e.g., capacitive or resistivetouch sensitive input panels, keys, buttons, lights, LEDs, cursorcontrol devices, haptic devices, and others). In embodiments, thedisplay screen 719 is a touchscreen display using singular orcombinations of display technologies and can include a thin, transparenttouch sensor component superimposed upon a display section that isviewable by a user. For example, such displays include capacitivedisplays, resistive displays, surface acoustic wave (SAW) displays,optical imaging displays, and the like. The user interface 786 mayfurther include an audio module 789 including hardware components suchas a speaker 791 for annunciating audio data and a microphone 790 fordetecting or receiving audio. For example, the microphone 790 can detectaudio tones or commands used in a discovery routine. For furtherexample, the speaker 791 can annunciate speech synthesized audio datacorresponding to notification(s) of one of the set of applications 784and generated by the audio generation module 712.

In general, a computer program product in accordance with an embodimentincludes a computer usable storage medium (e.g., standard random accessmemory (RAM), an optical disc, a universal serial bus (USB) drive, orthe like) having computer-readable program code embodied therein,wherein the computer-readable program code is adapted to be executed bythe processor 795 (e.g., working in connection with the operating system797) to facilitate the functions as described herein. In this regard,the program code may be implemented in any desired language, and may beimplemented as machine code, assembly code, byte code, interpretablesource code or the like (e.g., via C, C++, Java, Actionscript,Objective-C, Javascript, CSS, XML, and/or others).

Thus, it should be clear from the preceding disclosure that the systemsand methods offer improved application notification communicationtechniques. The embodiments advantageously enable users to easilycontrol the playback of audio notifications without requiring the usersto physically interact with user interfaces or requiring the electronicdevices to power their display screens. Additionally, the embodimentsadvantageously enable users to leverage peripheral devices to facilitatethe application notification communication.

This disclosure is intended to explain how to fashion and use variousembodiments in accordance with the technology rather than to limit thetrue, intended, and fair scope and spirit thereof. The foregoingdescription is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to theprecise forms disclosed. Modifications or variations are possible inlight of the above teachings. The embodiment(s) were chosen anddescribed to provide the best illustration of the principle of thedescribed technology and its practical application, and to enable one ofordinary skill in the art to utilize the technology in variousembodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations arewithin the scope of the embodiments as determined by the appendedclaims, as may be amended during the pendency of this application forpatent, and all equivalents thereof, when interpreted in accordance withthe breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:receiving, by a computing device operating in a low power mode, an audiocommand from a user, the audio command corresponding to a first requestto output data indicating whether a notification is available for anapplication of one or more applications accessible on the computingdevice; receiving, by the computing device, data indicating that a givennotification is available for the application; based on receiving dataindicating that the given notification is available for the applicationand based on receiving the audio command corresponding to the firstrequest to output data indicating whether a notification is availablefor the application, providing, for output by the computing device, anaudio indication that the given notification is available for theapplication; receiving, by the computing device, a second request tooutput the given notification; and in response to receiving the secondrequest to output the given notification, providing, for output, thegiven notification.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, by the computing device, a third request for the computingdevice to exit the low power mode; and in response to receiving thethird request for the computing device to exit the low power mode,providing, for output to a display of the computing device, a userinterface associated with the application.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein a display of the computing device is inactive while thecomputing device is operating in the low power mode.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the given notification comprises a notification thatwas queued for output with additional notifications.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein providing, for output, the given notificationcomprises: generating, by a speech synthesizer of the computing device,synthesized speech of the given notification; and providing, for output,the synthesized speech.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein providing, foroutput, the given notification comprises: providing the givennotification and an instruction to output the given notification to anadditional computing device.
 7. A system comprising: one or morecomputers; and one or more storage devices storing instructions that areoperable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the oneor more computers to perform operations comprising: receiving, by acomputing device operating in a low power mode, an audio command from auser, the audio command corresponding to a first request to output dataindicating whether a notification is available for an application of oneor more applications accessible on the computing device; receiving, bythe computing device, data indicating that a given notification isavailable for the application; based on receiving data indicating thatthe given notification is available for the application and based onreceiving the audio command corresponding to the first request to outputdata indicating whether a notification is available for the application,providing, for output by the computing device, an audio indication thatthe given notification is available for the application; receiving, bythe computing device, a second request to output the given notification;and in response to receiving the second request to output the givennotification, providing, for output, the given notification.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving,by the computing device, a third request for the computing device toexit the low power mode; and in response to receiving the third requestfor the computing device to exit the low power mode, providing, foroutput to a display of the computing device, a user interface associatedwith the application.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein a display of thecomputing device is inactive while the computing device is operating inthe low power mode.
 10. The system of claim 7, wherein the givennotification comprises a notification that was queued for output withadditional notifications.
 11. The system of claim 7, wherein providing,for output, the given notification comprises: generating, by a speechsynthesizer of the computing device, synthesized speech of the givennotification; and providing, for output, the synthesized speech.
 12. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein providing, for output, the given notificationcomprises: providing the given notification and an instruction to outputthe given notification to an additional computing device.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing software comprisinginstructions executable by one or more computers which, upon suchexecution, cause the one or more computers to perform operationscomprising: receiving, by a computing device operating in a low powermode, an audio command from a user, the audio command corresponding to afirst request to output data indicating whether a notification isavailable for an application of one or more applications accessible onthe computing device; receiving, by the computing device, dataindicating that a given notification is available for the application;based on receiving data indicating that the given notification isavailable for the application and based on receiving the audio commandcorresponding to the first request to output data indicating whether anotification is available for the application, providing, for output bythe computing device, an audio indication that the given notification isavailable for the application; receiving, by the computing device, asecond request to output the given notification; and in response toreceiving the second request to output the given notification,providing, for output, the given notification.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the operations furthercomprise: receiving, by the computing device, a third request for thecomputing device to exit the low power mode; and in response toreceiving the third request for the computing device to exit the lowpower mode, providing, for output to a display of the computing device,a user interface associated with the application.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein a display of the computingdevice is inactive while the computing device is operating in the lowpower mode.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13,wherein the given notification comprises a notification that was queuedfor output with additional notifications.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein providing, for output, thegiven notification comprises: generating, by a speech synthesizer of thecomputing device, synthesized speech of the given notification; andproviding, for output, the synthesized speech.